# Electoral districts of Lower Canada

The electoral districts of Lower Canada were territorial subdivisions of the Province of Lower Canada in British North America, serving as the basis of the representation of the population in the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada, the lower house of the Provincial Parliament of Lower Canada. This house was the first legislative assembly in the history of Quebec. The districts were used between 1792 and 1838, when the constitution of the province was suspended as a consequence of the Lower Canada Rebellion.
The Constitutional Act 1791 provided for the creation of a House of Assembly or Legislative Assembly, made up of at least fifty elected members. Lieutenant governor Alured Clarke divided the territory of the province into twenty-seven districts each returning one or two members to the Legislative Assembly. Twenty-three districts returned two members and four returned a single members. The rural districts were called "counties" (French: comtés), while the urban ones were called "cities" (cités) or "bouroughs" (bourgs). Sixteen out of twenty-seven bore typically English names, while the others bore French or Indigenous names.
In 1828, governor James Kempt, who was on good terms with the elected House of Assembly, favoured the redrawing of the electoral map. Five new districts were created, in total electing eight new memberss, in the newly settled Eastern Townships. These elected their first representatives to Parliament in 1829. The following year, the old districts were subdivided into smaller ones, which for the most part were given French names. A last district was created in 1832 and a second seat was added to existing ones, so that when the constitution was suspended in 1838, there were forty-six electoral districts in Lower Canada. They returned ninety members in total. Twenty-nine of these bore French names, eleven had Indigenous names, and six had English names.

## 1792 to 1829

| District | Location | Seats | Reform of 1829 |
| Bedford | Haut-Richelieu, East shore. | 1 | Renamed to Rouville. |
| Buckinghamshire | South shore of the St. Lawrence River between Sorel and Lévis. | 2 | Districts of Drummond (one seat), Missisquoi (2), Shefford (1), Sherbrooke (2) and Stanstead (2) are detached from Buckinghamshire, and are ready to return MMPs as of 1829. What remains is divided into Lotbinière (two seats), Nicolet (2) and Yamaska (2). |
| Cornwallis | South shore of the St. Lawrence River between La Pocatière and Cap-Chat. | 2 | Divided into Kamouraska and Rimouski (two seats each). |
| Devon | South shore of the St. Lawrence River from Montmagny to Saint-Roch-des-Aulnaies. | 2 | Renamed to L'Islet. |
| Dorchester | Lévis, Saint-Henri and Beauce. | 2 | The district of Beauce is detached from that of Dorchester. |
| Effingham | The Île Jésus, Blainville and Terrebonne. | 2 | Renamed to Terrebonne. |
| Gaspé | All of the Gaspésie region from Cap-Chat. | 1 | The district of Bonaventure is detached from that of Gaspé. |
| Hampshire | North shore of the St. Lawrence River from Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade to Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures. | 2 | Renanmed to Portneuf. |
| Hertford | The South shore of the St. Lawrence River from Beaumont to Montmagny. | 2 | Renamed to Bellechasse. |
| Huntingdon | South shore of the St. Lawrence River from the American border to Laprairie, including the West shore of Upper Richelieu River. | 2 | Divided into Beauharnois, L'Acadie and Laprairie. |
| Kent | Boucherville, Longueuil, Chambly, Blairfindie (L'Acadie) | 2 | Renamed to Chambly. |
| Leinster | Lachenaie, Mascouche and the Western region of Lanaudière. | 2 | Divided into Lachenaie and l'Assomption (two seats each). |
| County of Montreal | Island of Montreal except the town of Montreal. | 2 | No change. |
| Montreal East | | 2 | No change. |
| Montreal West | | 2 | No change. |
| Northumberland | North shore of the St. Lawrence River from Beauport to the provincial border. | 2 | Divided into Montmorency (one seat) and Saguenay (2). |
| Orléans | The île d'Orléans | 1 (second seat added in 1830) | No change. |
| County of Quebec | Region surrounding Quebec City, on the North shore of the St. Lawrence River. | 2 | No change. |
| Lower Town of Quebec | | 2 | No change. |
| Upper Town of Quebec | | 2 | No change. |
| Richelieu | Lower Richelieu River, East shore: Île Saint-Ignace, île du Pas, part of Saint-Ours, Yamaska, Saint-Denis, Saint-Charles, Saint-Hyacinthe | 2 | The district of Saint-Hyacinthe (tow seats) is detached from that of Richelieu. |
| Saint-Maurice | North shore of the St. Lawrence River from Maskinongé to Batiscan, except Trois-Rivières. | 2 | The district of Champlain (two seats) is detached from Saint-Maurice. |
| Surrey | The South shore of the St. Lawrence River from Boucherville to the mouth of the Richelieu River, and the West shore of the same: part of Saint-Ours, Contrecœur, Verchères, Varennes, Saint-Antoine, Belœil. | 2 | Renamed to Verchères. |
| Trois-Rivières | Town of Trois-Rivières. | 2 | No change. |
| Warwick | The North shore of the St. Lawrence River from Lavaltrie to Berthierville. | 2 | Renamed to Berthier. |
| William-Henry | Include Sorel, called William-Henry from 1787 to 1845. | 1 | No change. |
| York | Vaudreuil, Soulanges, the Île-Perrot, Deux-Montagnes and Rivière-du-Chêne (Saint-Eustache). | 2 | Divided in Deux-Montagnes (two seats), Ottawa (1) and Vaudreuil (2). |

## 1829 to 1838

| District | Seats | In the new Province of Canada (1841) |
| Beauce | 2 | Disappeared (merged with Dorchester) |
| Beauharnois | 2 | Preserved |
| Bellechasse | 2 | Preserved |
| Berthier | 2 | Preserved |
| Bonaventure | 2 | Preserved |
| Chambly | 2 | Preserved |
| Champlain | 2 | Preserved |
| Deux-Montagnes | 2 | Preserved |
| Dorchester | 2 | Preserved, merged with Beauce |
| Drummond | 1 | Preserved |
| Gaspé | 2 | Preserved |
| Kamouraska | 2 | Preserved |
| L'Acadie | 2 | Disappeared (merged with Laprairie in Huntingdon) |
| Lachenaie | 1 | Disappeared (merged with L'Assomption in Leinster) |
| Laprairie | 2 | Disappeared (merged with L'Acadie in Huntingdon) |
| L'Assomption | 2 | Disappeared (merged with Lachenaie in Leinster) |
| L'Islet | 2 | Preserved |
| Lotbinière | 2 | Preserved |
| Mégantic | 1 | Preserved |
| Missisquoi | 2 | Preserved |
| Montmorency | 1 | Preserved, merged with Orléans |
| County of Montreal | 2 | Preserved |
| Montreal East | 2 | Disappeared (merged into Montreal with Montreal West) |
| Montreal West | 2 | Disappeared (merged into Montreal with Montreal East) |
| Nicolet | 2 | Preserved |
| Orléans | 2 | Disappeared (merged with Montmorency) |
| Ottawa | 2 | Preserved |
| Portneuf | 2 | Preserved |
| County of Quebec | 2 | Preserved |
| Lower Town of Quebec | 2 | Disappeared (merged into Quebec with Upper Town of Quebec) |
| Upper Town of Quebec | 2 | Preserved (merged into Quebec with Lower Town of Quebec) |
| Richelieu | 2 | Preserved (merged with William-Henry) |
| Rimouski | 2 | Preserved |
| Rouville | 2 | Preserved |
| Saguenay | 2 | Preserved |
| Saint-Hyacinthe | 2 | Preserved |
| Saint-Maurice | 2 | Preserved |
| Shefford | 2 | Preserved |
| Sherbrooke | 2 | Preserved |
| Stanstead | 2 | Preserved |
| Terrebonne | 2 | Preserved |
| Trois-Rivières | 2 | Preserved |
| Vaudreuil | 2 | Preserved |
| Verchères | 2 | Preserved |
| William-Henry | 1 | Disappeared (merged with Richelieu) |
| Yamaska | 2 | Preserved |